Our View: Liquor licenses a good place to cut state red tape

When it comes to granting liquor licenses, what is appropriate for one community may not be the right approach for another. Gov. Deval Patrick now wants to leave the decision about lifting the current cap on the number of liquor licenses each community has available to the municipalities themselves. Legislation introduced by ...

When it comes to granting liquor licenses, what is appropriate for one community may not be the right approach for another. Gov. Deval Patrick now wants to leave the decision about lifting the current cap on the number of liquor licenses each community has available to the municipalities themselves. Legislation introduced by the governor would replace the current arrangement where local officials must have the Legislature sign off on such matters with one giving local officials more control in setting that number.

It’s part of a welcome push the governor is making in the final year of his final term to streamline the state’s regulatory climate to spur economic development and create more jobs. Some existing license holders don’t like the legislation because they want to protect their investments in liquor licenses, which can be worth thousands of dollars in cities like Boston, where they are at a premium.

Under the existing system, the number of licenses allowed in each city and town is capped, set by a formula that is based partly on population numbers.

If communities want to grant licenses above that cap, the Legislature needs to pass legislation for each additional license. If local officials feel it is appropriate to lift the caps in their communities, they should have the power to do so without having to seek legislative approval. The Legislature has far more pressing issues.

Massachusetts Restaurant Association President Bob Luz said that while the commonwealth’s restaurants generally support increasing license availability and streamlining the regulatory process, lifting the existing regulations could mean a loss for existing owners “who may have paid a far steeper price due to current market restrictions.” While it is unfortunate that these owners might lose out on their investment, state government’s interest should not be protecting businesses from competition.

The current cap on liquor licenses represents yet another unnecessary hurdle holding back economic development. As Patrick told the Associated Press, “If we are really serious about growing opportunity and accomplishing that by growing the economy, then we’ve just got to make it simpler to make their investment decisions and get on with it.” Those in the best position to determine the number of licenses appropriate for each community are the local officials in city or town hall.

While the liquor license caps are just a small issue in the big maze of the commonwealth’s burdensome regulatory structure that ought to be reformed to create a friendlier business climate, this is a common sense means of leaving local issues up to local officials.